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Abs:
stop the massacre !

“ Protect your back and work your abs to

strengthen your ‘core muscles’ and tone your
body shape. ”
Dr Bernadette de Gasquet is the founder of the Institut de Gasquet,
in Paris, a training centre for healthcare professionals practising in the
fields of sports medicine, physiotherapy and massage, osteopathy
and midwifery.

web site: www.degasquet.com

The exercises presented in this book are drawn from ‘ L’Abdologie® APOR-B de Gasquet® ’
and cannot be reproduced without prior written permission of the author
(www.degastquet.com). This work is a new edition of an earlier edition published by Robert
Jauze under the same title in 2003.

Photography by J.-G. Aubert, P. Martin, T. Pistre, S. Steinberg.

The series of three diagrams on p. 30, 31, 33 have been drawn from I. A. Kapandji, ‘
Physiologie articulaire, Schémas commentés de mécanique humaine ’, tome 3, Vigot, Paris.
The diagram titled ‘ Abdominal girdling muscles’, on p. 32, has been drawn from M. Dufour ‘
Anatomie de l’appareil locomoteur ’. Ed. Masson.
Abs : stop the massacre !
Text in English by Flo Brutton, translator and qualified yoga teacher
Contents
Chapter 1
Abdominal muscles : function and dysfunction p. 15

Chapter 2
Abdominal muscles and everyday life p. 51

Chapter 3
The Basics : transverse abdominis strengthening p. 67

Chapter 4
Practice : exercises for everyone
p. 83

Chapter 5
Exercises to take you further
p. 103

Chapter 6
Different, subtle, imagined abs
p. 131

Chapter 7
Special cases
p. 149

THE ABDOMINAL MUSCLES

The abdominal muscles (abs) are located in the abdomen, the area
between the rib cage and the lower limbs. Contrary to what most
people think, the abs are not just located on the front of the
abdomen but also along the sides and at the back.

Purpose of the abdominal muscles

• To support the viscera – the many internal organs located within
the abdomen:
intestines, stomach, liver, spleen, kidneys, pancreas, bladder and, in
the case of
women, the ovaries and the uterus.

When a freshly killed rabbit is hung up with its belly slit

open, the visceral organs fall down into the opening. They
hang from the ligaments like a sack of semi-solid substance
wrapped in the visceral peritoneal.

The more the abdominal wall is slack, the greater the risk of the
internal organs flopping forwards. With the spine at the back
supporting upright posture, the viscera automatically tend to move
forwards and downwards due to the forces of gravity.

No matter how slim or trim you are, your tummy will always be flatter
in the morning than in the evening – particularly if you spend the
whole day on your feet!

Elderly people, even if otherwise quite thin, often look as though

their tummy is hanging in mid air. As bipeds, we have a natural
tendency to sag in this area due to our upright posture (it’s different
on all-fours): gravity puts a stress on the muscles, which tend to lose
elasticity and slacken with age. The abdominal wall also stretches and
bulges forward to accommodate any increase in volume – whether
due to pregnancy, obesity, tumour or ascites (fluid in the abdominal
cavity).

• To help us breathe: inhalation is an active process. It is brought

about by the descent of the dome of the diaphragm, the principal
respiratory muscle that also separates the thorax from the abdomen.
As it descends, the diaphragm pushes down on the abdominal viscera
and the stomach bulges out slightly. This descent of the abdominal
viscera depends on the elasticity of the abdominal muscles, which
then recoil (like a rubber band) and resume their resting length. As
they tighten, they drive the diaphragm upwards to push air out of the
lungs – the process we call exhalation.
• To help blood circulate: abdominal movement facilitates the
pumping action of the diaphragm. When breathing it controls the
intake and expulsion of air, and it also promotes venous return. If it is
mainly the chest that moves (thoracic breathing), then blood tends to
stagnate and collect in the legs.

• To massage the internal organs: breathing stimulates the internal

organs, promoting bowel movement and urinary-tract function. When
the diaphragm moves, so too do the abdominal viscera. Our kidneys
travel some eight miles per day if we breathe properly. Sedentary
folk, whether hospitalized or wheelchair-bound, often have bowel and
circulation problems.

• To ‘push’: in defecation, childbirth and vomiting, intra-abdominal

pressure (IAP) compresses each organ to help it expel its contents.

• To move in general: movement of any sort brings the abs into play
– moving legs, arms, trunk, walking, bending over, standing up,
turning around. All the various body parts are connected, part of one
whole, even if they are not directly in contact with each other.

• To maintain an upright posture: strong abdominal muscles work like

a girdle to reduce the load on the back muscles that support the
spine (see ‘anatomy and role of the muscles’).

• To give the body shape: wasp-waist, six-pack – take your pick.

THE STOMACH Women’s stomachs and men’s stomachs …

The lumbar curve is a defining feature of the female body shape.

Schematically speaking, women have the bust pushed forwards and
the buttocks backwards. Men have the pelvis pushed forwards and
the shoulders backwards (ie the trunk is tipped backwards). This is
why women with a bit of a tummy tend to look bottom-heavy (but
often with a distinctively narrow, ‘cinched’ waist). Men by contrast are
more likely to have a paunch (and the plunging belt-line that goes
with it).
Cultural ideals

Pictured below are two very different representations of well-formed

men : on the left, a Cambodian statue (wasp-waisted) and on the
right a Roman statue (muscle-packed).

Differences in
morphology from one continent to another

African women have a particular body type, which amounts to more

than a simple lumbar curve. Their bodies are typically elongated, with
a hollow back and very horizontal sacrum making for narrow but very
uplifted buttocks. Morphologically speaking, they are the complete
opposite of Asian women who are characterized by a very flat back,
vertical sacrum and flattish buttocks.

The shape of European women falls somewhere between the two,

varying from woman to woman.
What does it mean to ‘ have a bit of a tummy ’ ?
It means having a stomach that sticks out too far – too much of
what’s there
already, in other words. Here are some of the reasons why.

• Bad posture: this is the most common cause in young and

otherwise slim people. A hollow back makes for a protruding
abdomen! However cute it may look in babies or young teenage girls,
this type of posture hyper-extends the distance between the sternum
and the pelvis.

The older we get, the less cute and the more saggy this looks –
particularly when successive pregnancies have stretched and
distended the muscles beyond their limits.
Young girl grown older
Likewise, the physique that men like to display in their twenties can
become striking for other reasons later on – a beer gut, to name but
one.

Bad posture : hunching (concertinaed spine)

Everyday life, particularly sitting in a slouched position, overstretches

the muscles of the back and abdomen and concertinas the body. In
this position, the abdominal viscera are displaced forwards,
unchecked by any reflexive resistance.
• Obesity: excess body fat certainly doesn’t help, particularly since it
tends to accumulate in problem areas. The result will look much the
same as above – only bigger !

• Digestive disorders: abdominal swelling of digestive origin can be

episodic or pretty much constant. Note too that the excessive
straining associated with chronic constipation, pushing the stomach
out as far as possible, also stretches the muscles beyond their normal
capabilities.

• Multiple births: being pregnant with more than one baby puts
pressure on the muscles and also the skin, which can crack and leave
stretch marks.
Even a single baby, depending on its position and size, can be difficult
to ‘accommodate’, especially for a woman with a slim build (see
below for particular examples). Closely spaced pregnancies pose an
obvious risk to the recovery of the abdominal wall after pregnancy.

• Tumours: large fibroids are particularly likely to distend the

abdomen, sometimes making a woman look pregnant.

• The wrong type of exercise: any sport or series of exercises that

works the abdominal muscles incorrectly can lead to prominent
muscles and a ‘protruding stomach’. This weakens the layers of the
abdominal wall that serve to hold the viscera pinned firmly back
against the spine..

FLAT STOMACH, FIRM STOMACH The ‘ flat stomach ’ look

Is having a flat stomach just an aesthetic thing – an image of our
times ?

There is certainly nothing natural about the contemporary image of

youth and beauty: painfully thin, androgynous-looking women with
inflated breasts; musclebound men pumped full of steroids. But a
protuberant or overhanging belly on an otherwise shapeless figure
indicates a postural imbalance that carries significant health risks.
Back pain, poor circulation, breathing difficulties, hernia and
prolapsed organs are just some of the problems associated with poor
posture.

A small, nicely rounded but firm belly on a voluptuous Renoir-like

body is not at all the same thing as a distended stomach, or over-
developed muscles at the expense of another group.

For all-round strength, an athlete needs an evenly developed

muscular physique with firm abdominal muscles in the right
proportion.
Good muscle balance ensures that the spine is well supported and
the viscera are held in place.

How to get a well-toned stomach

In terms of muscle training:
• Avoid exercises that bear down on the stomach or push it out,
• Concentrate on exercises that ‘ draw the viscera in, up and back,
towards

the spine ’.

Our programme will address all of the following:

• Abdominal workout mistakes (pushing the stomach out and bearing
down)
• Postural mistakes – our working position and movement in
everyday activity
• Incorrect breathing
• Unbalanced abs and weak supporting muscles
• Abdominal straining (whether to void the bowels or in childbirth)

These pages set out clearly and simply how this should work –
revealing the flaws in conventional wisdom (especially about the
human body) and correcting them through graded exercises adapted
to suit individual needs and ages.
Chapter 1
Abdominal muscles: function and dysfunction
Let us begin by looking at the abdominal muscles in the
overall context of the body and its vital functions.
Understanding how things work is key to running,
maintaining and protecting this fabulous machine we call the
human body. It is also the point of departure for the
analytical framework developed in these pages, and the
three principles on which it is based: pressure, respiratory
physiology, and stretching.

THREE KEY NOTIONS

Pressure
Mechanically speaking, the body may be visualized as three
pressurized cavities (or boxes) and four limbs.

Three pressurized cavities

• The thinking box, or cranial box – the most rigid and inflexible of
the three. The
cranial box is the bony structure that encases the brain and protects
it from impact.
It prevents compression of the cranial contents.
The volume inside the cranial box must remain constant, intracranial
pressure
must never exceed a certain level either.

• The breathing box, or rib cage. This too has bony walls (spine, ribs,
sternum) but enjoys enough elasticity to permit respiratory
movement of the thorax.
Contained within the rib cage are the lungs, attached to the ribs and
sternum, and the heart. Both of these organs are firmly ‘anchored’ in
position, so preventing them from moving around in the rib cage.
However both organs are elastic in themselves, with variable volume
and pressure.
• The digestive and reproductive box. The most mobile and elastic of
our three structures – only the framework (spine and pelvis) is bony.

The walls of this box consist almost entirely of muscle: at the top, the
diaphragm; on the sides, the abdominal muscles (and back muscles);
and at the base, the pelvic floor muscles (the muscles that close off
the bottom of the box). This degree of elasticity is necessary for
movement and changes in volume and pressure. But it also makes
the whole thing quite fragile.
Nothing is ever motionless in this cavity.
• The volumes vary as the viscera (stomach, bladder, rectum) fill and
empty and

the intestines endlessly expand and contract to move food on its way.

Between the bladder and rectum is the uterus, which is not rigidly
fixed in position but capable of changing its capacity to accommodate
one, two or more foetuses.
The size of the liver and spleen can also become enlarged in certain
diseases. All abdominal masses can cause ‘swelling of the stomach’.

• The pressures vary according to the dimensions of the box: as the

volume of the box decreases, pressure increases.
Increases in abdominal pressure may be deliberate in order to expel
something from the box, eg vomit, defecate or give birth.
Intra-abdominal pressure increases when descent of the diaphragm is
accompanied by abdominal contractions.
Exhalation
The diaphragm moves back up, taking the viscera with it, cinching up the waist
Inhalation
The diaphragm descends, pushing the viscera before it. The waist expands, the
pelvic floor bulges.

• The viscera are mobile, suspended in position by ligaments with

variable degrees of tautness. The broad ligament that attaches the
ovaries to the side of the uterus, for instance, is not nearly so taut as
the knee ligament.

These ligaments must in turn be capable of adapting. In pregnancy,

for instance, the uterus must be free to expand, become upright,
move towards the right and grow upwards – and the ligaments have
to follow suit!
As pregnancy advances, the stomach and intestines are displaced by
the growing uterus, and the bladder is compressed.
Your kidneys travel about eight miles per day in response to the
movement of the diaphragm.
In fact, all of the suspended viscera are intimately connected with
each other.
The contents of the abdomen actually ‘hang off the diaphragm’ –
which takes everything with it as it moves up and down.
• The abdominal wall can become distorted through normal, everyday
breathing, which involves a double movement: from top to bottom
and outwards in all directions.

On inhalation, the diaphragm descends and pushes the viscera

downwards. As breath fills the abdomen, the pelvic floor muscles
‘bulge downward’, slightly expanding the space that the viscera are
meanwhile compressing.

This movement is accommodated by the abs which, being elastic,

move not only down but also out. As they stretch, the stomach
‘swells’ and expands. The outward circumference of the box increases
as a result, compensating for the loss of height due to compression.
On inhalation, it’s the other way around. The abs recoil and resume
their resting length, drawing the diaphragm and pelvic floor back up.
Height increases and circumference decreases.

In quiet, effortless breathing, there is very little variation in pressure.

But any effort performed with the lungs fully inflated and the
diaphragm pressed downward will cause an abrupt increase in
pressure due to the contraction of the abdominal muscles.

Naturally, with the diaphragm held down by the lungs, that pressure
is exerted downwards, towards the pelvic floor.
Exhalation Normal exhalation: Tummy in, free upward movement of the
diaphragm, pelvic floor muscles lifting as the load lightens.
Normal inhalation

Tummy out, downward movement of the

diaphragm, pelvic floor bulging under pressure
– all of the viscera move downwards.

It follows that exercises designed to strengthen the abs should never

involve descent of the diaphragm. Otherwise the repeated increases
in intra-abdominal pressure may exceed perineal floor resistance,
exacerbating the risk of prolapse.

Exercising with lungs fully inflated can also increase pressure inside
the skull (ICP) and on the intervertebral discs.

All of the martial arts and traditional physical disciplines use sharp
exhales to generate movement – ‘kiai’, the deadly scream of the
Karate fighter, comes from the pit of the stomach. So too does the
sailor’s ‘heave-ho’, the lumberjack’s cry of ‘timber!’, the tennis player’s
‘grunt’ and the weightlifter’s yell.

Effects of high intra-abdominal pressure

Effects may be divided into two types: the effects on the suspended
organs and
the effects on the abdominal and perineal muscles.

• Effects on the suspended organs

Illness apart, we are on our feet for most of our waking hours. So our
suspending ligaments are working to resist gravity for more than 12
hours a day.
Things do not improve with age. The older we get, the weaker these
ligaments become, worn down by time like the rest of our body. It
wouldn’t be so bad if we walked on all fours, but given that we are
upright, we have to avoid bearing down – especially when exercising
to counteract wear and tear and keep in shape !

Women are more vulnerable than men in this regard, due to their
particular body mechanics. Between the bladder and the rectum is
the uterus, but there is also the vaginal void … If the ligaments give
way, or when we strain, the organs have a nasty habit of tumbling
into that void !

Female urinary
apparatus versus male urinary apparatus.
Pregnancy puts a strain on the uterine ligaments, weakening the
abdominal wall. Intense, prolonged bearing down in labour only
makes things worse, adding as much as 20 kilos (40 lbs) to the load.
The rectum and bladder often get ‘squashed’ and pushed down in
pregnancy and delivery.

It is not uncommon therefore to see prolapse in young women who

have had a long and difficult labour. The application of fundal
pressure, pressing hard down on the mother’s stomach to help expel
the baby, greatly increases the risk of permanent damage to the
ligaments.

People who regularly strain to stool, pushing down on the diaphragm

and inflating the stomach, are also at risk of organ prolapse. With it
come urinary incontinence and the inability to control the passage of
stool or gas. They may also experience ‘descending perineum
syndrome’: a lax, bulging perineum that offers nothing to push
against, interfering with proper evacuation via the rectum.
Constipation and more straining ensues, and so the cycle continues
(see Constipation, Solutions).

Men have no vaginal void, so their pelvic floor is less likely to give
way. Their weak points are in the abdominal wall itself: buttonhole-
like openings in the abdominal muscles where the intestines can poke
through and create hernias. This can be triggered by any sudden
physical exertion, including coughing, heavy lifting or repeated
straining to stool. Hernias are often seen in top sportsmen with poor
body control, who put undue pressure on the abdominal region by
regularly bearing down.

• Effects on the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles

When the diaphragm descends, everything descends with it. That

includes the pelvic floor muscles, which stretch and bulge
downwards. Repeated pressure over time, however, can lead to
muscle fatigue, distending the muscles to the point where they can
no longer support the pelvic cavity or seal off the sphincters
(incontinence). Known as ‘descending perineum syndrome’, this is
one of the complications of chronic constipation. The overstretched
perineum offers nothing to push against and can no longer hold the
organs in place. Incomplete evacuation requires even more intense
straining and increases the load on the perineum.

When the diaphragm descends, the waist expands and slackens,

allowing the viscera to sag forward and downward. Strong core
muscles, especially in the lower torso, are therefore vital to keep the
abdominal organs pinned against the spine.

We will see below how building core strength depends on never

shortening the distance between the sternum and the pelvis, or
between the shoulders and the hips – unlike what usually happens in
conventional abs workouts.

• Control of intra-abdominal pressure

Safe abdominal exercises that entail none of the risks described

above always avoid active descent of the diaphragm and downward
pressure – particularly when contracting the abs.

This brings us to respiration and stretching, which is the key to

proper breathing. Belgian Doctor of Physiotherapy Marcel Caufriez
has measured the intraabdominal pressure (IAP) generated by
various postures. He found that from 30 mg HG in standing position,
IAP increases to 50 mg HG when effort is coupled with inhalation
(lungs fully inflated) and to 250 mg HG when performing certain
conventional abdominal exercises.
In fact, not only can you strengthen the abdominal muscles without
increasing IAP but some exercises actually exert a negative pressure
(-50 mg HG). Caufriez’ own technique is based on what he called
‘hypopressive’ abdominals (as opposed to the ‘hyperpressive’ kind).

Respiration
• Normal breathing means breathing ‘the right way around’ – from
the nose to the
perineum. It’s how we breathe when we are asleep. It’s how animals
and children
breathe. We are all familiar with the basic mechanism of breathing:
on inhalation the
diaphragm pulls down, like a piston; on exhalation, it moves back up,
forcing air out.

Look at a dog or cat and you will see how the stomach inflates
slightly on inhalation and deflates on exhalation. Look closer and you
will notice that the nostrils dilate on inhalation and the anus retracts
on exhalation. Breathing, in other words, works from the nose to the
perineum – it’s much more straightforward in a horizontal posture !

None of this happens in adults who slouch when sitting or standing

(body concertinaed, upper back hunched or lower back arched). Our
breathing then is the complete opposite of normal involuntary
breathing: the stomach draws in on inhalation and pushes out on
exhalation, the chest moves but not the lower abdomen.

Pitfalls to avoid
• Common mistakes: watch what happens when people are told to
take ‘a good
deep breath’, at the gym for instance. Up go the chest and shoulders
on inhalation,
down go the chest and sternum on exhalation. Instead of the
diaphragm descending
on inhalation, everything moves up. The diaphragm and abdominal
muscles remain
static as the rib cage is hiked up and the stomach is pushed out just
when it should
be sucked in.
• Instructions you should ignore: ‘Breathe in, pushing the stomach
out’ and
‘Breathe out, drawing the stomach in’. Doing the first pushes the
diaphragm
downwards, distending the abs. The truth is that you should never
push the stomach
out or actively inflate it, and you should never begin with an
inhalation.

Doing the second usually results in the stomach being sucked in from
the umbilicus upwards, pulling the rib-cage inward, bearing down and
pushing out the lower abdomen (below the waistline).

Instructions to be avoided at all costs: ‘Inhale to arch and exhale to

tuck’ (see ‘Tilting the pelvis’). ‘Tilting’ (accentuating the lumbar curve)
on inhalation creates a forward and downward pressure. ‘Tucking
under’ (reversing the lumbar curve) increases IAP by reducing the
volume of the abdominal cavity. Either way, the intervertebral discs
are put under pressure.

The right way

Always begin with an exhalation. There is air in the lungs from the
moment we are born – we can always pant. Breathing-in is not
something we need to think about: our lungs never remain empty for
long. Inhalation occurs reflexively, it’s the diaphragm’s job. Try
holding your breath for too long and you will soon feel the pumping
action of the diaphragm, forcing you to open your mouth and breathe
in. Think how difficult it is to hold your breath for any length of time
under water. When running, on the other hand, panting is the only
way to avoid dying of asphyxiation: contracting the abdominal
muscles forces the diaphragm back up, triggering exhalation.
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about lowering the
ribs on exhalation. The aim is not to move the sternum or
ribs down towards the pelvis but rather to move the ribs at
the level where they attach in the back to the spine – what is
known as the ‘bucket handle’ movement. The ribs articulate
with the vertebral column at two joints that push against the
underlying vertebra when the ribs are lowered, keeping the
dorsal spine upright and pushing the head upwards.
Lowering the ribs does not mean giving in – whether to
adversity or gravity - but on the contrary, roaring like an
animal in the face of the enemy !

How to breathe

Breathing makes you grow taller and slimmer ! Proper

exhalation means resisting the pull of gravity and driving the
diaphragm and viscera back up, crown of the head extending
upward.

To do that, we have to recruit the ‘right’ abdominal muscles, those

that work from the bottom up, pushing the viscera before them: the
transverse abdominis. As we will see, recruiting this little-known
muscle group requires stretching into the pose and facilitating its
bottom-up action by activating the perineum.

Never restrict the exhalation. Another common mistake is to exhale

through pursed lips, so restricting the flow of breath. This puts too
much pressure on the abdomen, which tends to squeeze in from the
waist up. Instead, allow the breath to flow smoothly as if you were
singing or blowing into a liquid. Then open the nostrils or mouth to
let air in.

The problem with traditional abdominal exercises is that they are too
often designed to target specific muscles at the expense of the body
as a whole. The muscles at the front of the abdomen may be the
ones that show, but that does not mean they work in isolation.
Stretching

The reason it all goes wrong when we stop being horizontal is failure
to stretch. Slumping, slouching and arching the body, squashing two
vertebrae together as we bend forwards, backwards, sideways, or
twist – any movement that concertinas the spine interferes with
natural breathing. Stretching is essential to allow the piston-like
action of the diaphragm.

Failure to stretch (with the body concertinaed or arched, even

laterally), makes the stomach stick out, with no possibility of
retracting (see illustrations).
Shortening the distance between the shoulders and pelvis makes
stretching impossible, raises IAP and prevents the stomach from
retracting.

Stretching and how to stretch

Stretching means to put as much distance as possible between one

end of the spine and the other – or to put it another way, to
maximise the natural space between each vertebra on every axis.

There are two possibilities.

• Extension from a fixed point – for instance, from the head or pelvis.
All we need to do here is stretch as far away from that point as
possible.

• Extension from no fixed point – for instance when working on all

fours. In this case, the head at one end of the spine and the buttocks
at the other end must extend equally in opposing directions.

Think of the spine as a bicycle chain around two sprockets that keep
it taut. One sprocket (or wheel) is the pelvis and the other is the
head and shoulder girdle. The pelvis extends backwards and the
shoulders extend forwards. If the distance between them is
shortened (ie the chain goes slack) then stretching in the pose is not
possible.

Constant stretching is
therefore a priority when exercising – otherwise breathing will be
stunted and the stomach will sag pushing the viscera downwards.
Exercises that are designed to bring the head and pelvis closer
together should obviously be avoided altogether.

Risks of incorrect abdominal workouts

Bringing the shoulders and hips closer together exerts a forward and
downward
pressure, resulting in the following:

- a protruding stomach rather than the flat and shapely stomach of

your dreams;
- sagging abdominal organs, predisposing to prolapse, incontinence
and perineal muscle laxity;
- an increased risk of abdominal or inguinal hernia;
- compressed or even herniated discs, lumbago, sciatica, etc

How to check if you exercising properly

Try this simple test.

Place a hand on your stomach as you exercise. If you can feel

the stomach pushing against your hand as the abdominals
contract, then you have tightened the rectus abdominis and
brought your shoulders and pelvis closer together
If you can feel the stomach tightening, sucking in as the
waist narrows, then you have stretched the body properly.

Basic anatomy Anatomy

pictured

The abdominal muscles may be compared to women’s underwear in

former times. First, pushing the viscera upwards, a girdle with a
reinforced base. Next, a wasp-waisted corset-cum-bustier, to narrow
the waist, lift the breasts and stop the wearer from slumping. The
finishing touch, worn over the other two layers, was a pair of braces
(or suspenders).
 It’s
important to get this right – mistakes are costly !

- Shortening the suspenders will not help to narrow the waist.

- The order of layers matters. If you start with the corset, you can no
longer put on the girdle and the lower stomach will sag.
- Shortening the braces makes it impossible to straighten up or
tighten the corset.
- We all know that the only way of squeezing into a tight pair of jeans
or skirt is to ‘suck in’ the stomach and elongate the torso. In other
words, we need to stretch the shoulders as far as possible from the
pelvis – and certainly not slump.

Descriptive anatomy

These three muscle layers make up what we call the abs. Each layer
allows movement in different directions, working either separately, in
pairs or in combination with the other two layers.
• First layer, circling the belly: the transverse abdominis (TrA)

This is our girdle with a reinforced base. People think of the TrA as
the deepest muscle layer, which is only partly true as explained below
(see detailed description of the TrA). The TrA is a very broad muscle
that attaches along the vertebra and extends along the whole length
of the front of the abdomen. It ends in the middle line of the
abdomen, and here its characteristics change – it does not wrap
around the abdomen.

Running down the midline of the abdomen is not muscle but a sheath
of inelastic tissue called the abdominal aponeurosis. This is similar to
the tissue surrounding the loin running along the back of a steer (you
may have seen a butcher ‘peeling’ a beef tenderloin). The abdominal
aponeurosis forms the site of attachment for the oblique muscles. It
is where all of the abdominal muscles converge.

• Second deepest layer: the oblique muscles

This is our wasp-waisted corset. The oblique muscles are so-named

because they run diagonally, not vertically nor horizontally,
sandwiched between the TrA and the rectus abdominis muscles.
There are two oblique muscles, internal and external. The internal
oblique fans out from the hipbones and travels up towards the ribs
and the aponeurosis in the midline of the abdomen. The external
oblique runs in the opposite direction, starting on the side of the ribs
and travelling down to the aponeurosis and the hipbones. The
external obliques on one side of the body appear to cross over with
the internal obliques on the other, but they are actually divided by the
band of non-muscle tissue in the middle.
 Internal oblique

Transverse abdominis Rectus abdominis mLinea alba Ventral

Lateral
Supraumbilical

skin superficial fascia external oblique m

internal oblique m transverse abdominis m

transverse fascia

Peritoneum Round ligament of the liver (umbilical vein)

Infraumbilical
Rectus abdominis m Pyramidalis m
superficial fascia external oblique m
internal oblique m skin

transverse
abdominis m
transverse fasciaUrachus Peritoneum umbilical artery
Abdominal girdling muscles, showing the rectus abdominis lying between the
aponeurosis
• Last (top) layer: the rectus abdominis muscle

The most superficial of the three layers of abdominal muscles, the

rectus abdominis, sits in the front of the abdomen and runs vertically.
At its upper end it connects to the sternum, near the bottom of the
rib cage. At its lower end, it connects to the pubic bone. It consists of
two segmented, strap-like muscles that can be seen rippling beneath
the skin – what we call ‘the six pack’. These are our ‘braces’, or rather
just the front straps that should be counterweighted by the back
strap. Failing that, the belt line either takes a plunge or ends up just
below the chest.

Alternatively, think of the rectus abdominis muscle as a row of

vertical buttonholes: gaping when the body goes slack (shorter from
top to bottom), neat and tight when we stretch.

Rectus
abdominis
muscle

External oblique
 FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY

It is the complex interplay between these three muscle layers, caught

between the spine at the back and their point of convergence at the
front, which allows movement, elasticity and support. These layers
complement or oppose each other depending on the movement and
position in question. To use them effectively therefore (see above,
Purpose of the Abdominal Muscles) we need to understand how they
work.

Transverse abdominis muscle

This is a very strange and unusual muscle.
There are two parts to the TrA: an upper region representing the
deepest

abdominal muscle; and a lower region, beneath the navel,

representing the most superficial. The upper part of its aponeurosis
passes posteriorly to the rectus abdominis muscle while the lower
part passes anteriorly.

Imagine these muscles weaving over and under each other, the
rectus abdominis diving under and through the aponeurosis.
You can often feel what’s going on here with your fingers – in a
pregnant woman, you can actually see it. Viewed from the side, her
belly looks quite flat just above the pubic bone, only revealing the
‘baby bump’ where the uterus is located. Some women will notice a
mark on the skin here rather like a panty-line.

This is where pregnant woman tend to place their hands, as if to

support their baby from underneath. The fact is that this part of the
abdomen has very little give or elasticity, and must never become
distended.

Pregnancy apart, this is the location of the uterus and the bladder,
which should always remain in front of and below the organs that are
pressing down on them from above.

The TrA is a skeletal muscle , that is to say responsible for

movement. However it functions more like smooth muscle
(controlling involuntary movement, like cardiac muscle) due to a
powerful reflex action that triggers ‘expulsion of foreign substances
from the body’ – whether through the orifices above or below.
Try contracting the TrA by squeezing in the waist, and you will see
that nothing much happens.

But when we sneeze or vomit (or the urge to push becomes

irresistible in childbirth), when the contractions are reflexive and
involuntary – that’s the TrA at work. Such contractions are
incomparably powerful, impossible to resist and extremely violent.
Sneezing for a pregnant woman can be quite unpleasant, almost like
a cramp !

There is no abs routine that will work the TrA – this is a muscle that
contracts all on its own and not by acting on other parts of the body.
Unlike the rectus abdominis and the obliques that connect the
ribcage to the pelvis, the transverse abdominis does not connect one
or more skeletal parts to others.

Trying to work this muscle at home or at the gym is at best a waste

of time and at worst potentially harmful: as we show later, incorrect
abs workouts only result in overstretching.

There is only one way to contract the TrA and that is to get it to
squeeze itself – and the only way to do that, is to breathe out.
In Part Three of this book, we give examples of exercises that can
strengthen the TrA, particularly the lower section.

This is an area we seldom think of exercising but that has to stretch

all the time due to its location in the lower part of the body. Over the
years, as successive pregnancies take their toll, the muscle fibres can
become overstretched and fibrotic: bound by scar tissue and no
longer capable of ‘holding-in the lower stomach’. This sort of
muscular fibrosis is often seen when dissecting women who died at
about age 60.

The oblique muscles

In terms of position and direction, the oblique muscles lie midway

between the rectus abdominis and the transverse abdominis. They
can perform several actions, using a range of movements.

Twisting brings the shoulders at right angles (well, almost) to the

pelvis, or vice versa.
If the shoulders stay fixed as the pelvis rotates, the movement is
driven by the internal oblique, working in tandem with the external
oblique on the opposite side.
If the pelvis stays fixed as the shoulders

rotate, the movement is driven by the external oblique, working in

tandem with the internal oblique on the opposite side.
If performed correctly, moving on an exhalation, twists have an
‘hourglass’ effect, sculpting the waist.
Lateral flexion (or side bending) stretches the flanks, creating a
crescent shape.
The internal and external obliques on the same side contract
simultaneously, making the body concave on the underside and
convex on the upper side.

Translational (linear) movement causes the shoulders and pelvis to

move away from each other in a straight line. The movement is
driven by the external oblique on one side (sliding the shoulders) and
the internal oblique on the opposite side (sliding the pelvis), while the
remaining obliques provide core stability.

• But all of these movements can be executed:

With a stretched body , maintaining maximum distance between

shoulders and pelvis, with no undue pressure, no bearing down, no
compression of the intervertebral discs (see images above).

With a
concertinaed body, shortening the distance between the shoulders
and pelvis and inviting all of the problems previously mentioned.
The oblique muscles can also work without producing movement:
when all four bundles contract together, without lowering the ribcage,
they become expiratory. The ‘corset’ is tightened from the bottom up,
squeezing the bottom of the ribcage and pushing the diaphragm back
upwards.

The rectus abdominis muscle

Because of its position and direction, when this muscle contracts

(shortening the fibres) it inevitably brings the shoulders closer to the
pelvis (if the pelvis stays fixed as in prone/sitting poses) or the pelvis
closer to the shoulders (if the shoulders stay fixed) or, worse still, it
brings both ends towards the middle!

All of these contractions block the diaphragm, concertina the spine,

push the stomach out, press the viscera downwards and put a strain
on the perineum.
Shortening of the rectus abdominis muscle is never justified – neither
in terms of muscles, nor articulations, nor viscera nor posture.

So what is the purpose of the rectus abdominis? To counterbalance

the muscles of the back, or the back strap if you prefer. If we
compare the spine to the mast of a ship, the rectus abdominis muscle
and the long back muscles are the horizontal shrouds. If one side of
the shroud is larger than the other, the mast will bend.

Beware the parasitic effect of rectus abdominis

With daily wear and tear, this muscle has a nasty habit of
foreshortening as it
contracts to resist gravity.
Sitting postures, any work that involves the hands, can cause the
body to
concertina, shoulders and back hunched forward.
It’s hard work standing (or sitting) up straight with the back muscles
braced against gravity. When you put on your shoes, for instance,
chances are you have to bend over to bring your foot towards your
hands.

Very few of us can bring the thigh up towards the abdomen, flexing
the groin muscles while keeping the back straight!
 right wrong
There is a big difference between the two – as you will see the day
you are afflicted by sciatica or low back pain.

Another mistake most people make is to bend at the waist to pick

things off the floor – when what we should do is bend at the knees
(if necessary) but keep the back straight. This is certainly a basic
ergonomic recommendation for lumbar spine rehabilitation. But so
too is strengthening the abs, with hand weights for maximum impact
– producing exactly the kind of foreshortening we want to avoid.

Even breathing in the upright position can be a problem: the rib cage
collapses, the stomach sticks out and the torso concertinas instead of
growing taller.
The culprit in all of these situations is the rectus abdominis, which
has a parasitic effect and contracts involuntarily.
It can also act by default: it can fail to contract when it should.
• When should the rectus abdominis contract ?
It should contract to avoid foreshortening of the back muscles – stop
our ‘mast’ from leaning backwards.

Contracting the rectus abdominis avoids overarching the lumbar or,

conversely, rounding the lower back. Most times however it stretches
instead of contracting, resulting in abs that are either too long, too
short or simply too uneven. The pattern is all too familiar.
The effect on the back is to over-mobilise the lumbosacral junction,
which is gradually worn away as the spine is alternately arched or
concertinaed. In practice, it’s always the same disc or pair of discs
that take the load, continuously compressed as they are forced
forwards or backwards. It’s the same problem with pelvic tilt, which
as we shall see is usually performed with the body concertinaed and
the rectus foreshortened.

What is the right way for the rectus abdominis to contract?

Rectus abdominis contraction plays a key role in keeping the spine

evenly aligned and lengthened in twists, forward-bends and
stretches; also in ‘bracing’ the back and keeping it firm (when doing
press-ups for instance). This is known as isometric contraction, which
means that the muscle maintains a constant length and no
foreshortening or stretching occurs. Rather like an elastic band that
resists stretching but doesn’t shrink either.

The back muscles work in the same way to stabilize the torso in
press-ups or inversions (head or shoulder stand), which also work the
abs.
ANTAGONISTIC AND SYNERGISTIC A game of alliances
You could say that our three layers of abdominal muscles are like
three children in the same family: there is always an ‘odd one out’,
except in the face of adversity when all three pull together. The
obliques, for instance, can work together (synergistically) with the
rectus abdominis or the transverse abs, but the rectus abdominis and
the lower part of the transverse abs work in opposition to each other
(antagonistically).

Rectus/transverse antagonistic action

This opposition between the rectus abdominis and the anterio-

superior transverse abdominis (‘superficial transverse’) is due to the
weaving arrangement previously described.

When a muscle foreshortens, it becomes thicker. The rectus

abdominis, for instance, ‘bulges out’ when it contracts. Since the
lower segments of this muscle lie internal to the abdominal
aponeurosis, this bulging pushes against the aponeurosis, which,
being inelastic, cannot contract in response. Sooner or later, the
lower abdominal ‘girdle’ will ‘bust’ under pressure.

Once the rectus abdominis has contracted, tightening the transverse

abdominis becomes impossible (see later for examples of exercises).
The oblique muscles – between two camps
What happens here depends on rectus abdominis muscle tension and
the spinal
lengthening that goes with it.
If the oblique muscles contract with the rectus abdominis
foreshortened, they
contribute to a slack transverse abdominis.
If the oblique muscles contract with the rectus abdominis – and
therefore the
spine – properly stretched, they help to strengthen the TrA, adding
shapeliness and
height.
Obliques and rectus abdominis working in opposition to TrA: the
external obliques
draw the ribs downwards, accentuating the concertina effect.
Another random document with
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[21] Here must be some mistake in my notes; for Lady Cobham’s
might have been a family picture, if the term were applied to Lord
Chatham’s residence; but how could it be so, as belonging to the
Wiltshire estate? However, I let it stand as it was written at the
time.
[22] Much has been written in prose and verse on the advantages
and mischief of smoking tobacco. Tissot, among others, filled a
volume to prove that half the maladies of mankind may be traced
to the use of tobacco. But when some millions of people, male
and female, as in Turkey, smoke from morning till night, and live,
florid and robust, to a good old age, it may be questioned whether
Tissot showed the same sagacity in his nosological researches on
this as on other subjects. All I can say is that Lady Hester gave
her sanction to the practice by the habitual use of the long oriental
pipe, which use dated from the year 1817, or thereabouts.
As she had now kept her bed for many weeks, we will describe
her there, when, lying with her pipe in her mouth, talking on
politics, philosophy, morality, religion, or on any other theme, with
her accustomed eloquence, and closing her periods with a whiff
that would have made the Duchess of Rutland stare with
astonishment, could she have risen from her tomb to have seen
her quondam friend, the brilliant ornament of a London drawing-
room, clouded in fumes so that her features were sometimes
invisible. Now, this altered individual had not a covering to her
bed that was not burnt into twenty holes by the sparks and ashes
that had fallen from her pipe; and, had not these coverings been
all woollen, it is certain that, on some unlucky night, she must
have been consumed, bed and all.
Her bed-room, at the end of every twenty-four hours, was strewed
with tobacco and ashes, to be swept away and again strewed as
before; and it was always strongly impregnated with the fumes.
The finest tobacco the country could produce, and the cleanest
pipes (for she had a new one almost as often as a fop puts on
new gloves), could hardly satisfy her fastidiousness; and I have
known her footman get as many scoldings as there were days in
the week on that score. From curiosity, I once counted a bundle of
pipes, thrown by after a day or two’s use, any one of which would
have fetched five or ten shillings in London, and there were one
hundred and two. The woods she most preferred were jessamine,
rose, and cork. She never smoked cherry-wood pipes, from their
weight, and because she liked cheaper ones, which she could
renew oftener. She never arrived at that perfectability, which is
seen in many smokers, of swallowing the fumes, or of making
them pass out at her nostrils. The pipe was to her what a fan was
or is in a lady’s hand—a means of having something to do. She
forgot it when she had a letter to write, or any serious occupation.
It is not so with the studious and literary man, who fancies it helps
reflection or promotes inspiration.
[23] About the time of the Duke of York’s affair with Mrs. Clarke,
Lady Hester went into Wales, and, in an inn at Builth, she got
round her the exciseman, the apothecary, the landlord, and some
of the village farmers. “Pray, Mr. Innkeeper,” she said, “how
should you like a painted wife, with half-a-dozen fine gentlemen
about her, shaking the hair-powder on her face? Or is it
agreeable, Mr. M., to have the window opened at dinner-time, in a
cold November day, to let out the smells of a parcel of dogs? I
suppose, if you had an uncomfortable home, you would think
yourself at liberty to take a little pleasure elsewhere.” With
speeches of that sort she won them all over to the duke’s side. To
hear her relate the story herself, with her mimickry of the men and
the landlady, to each of whom she addressed some question,
which brought the case home to their own feelings, was infinitely
amusing: it was one of the best scenes I ever heard her act.
 chapter vii.
Journey to Beyrout—Death of Mrs. K—— —Mr. George Robinson and M. Guys
—The River Damoor—Khaldy—Letter from Lady Hester to Mr. K.—Lord Prudhoe
—Mrs. Moore—Lady Hester’s dislike to be the subject of occasional poetry—
Striking a Turk—Lady Hester’s opinion of Lord Byron—Arrival of Maximilian Duke
of Bavaria—Letter to the Baron de Busech—Letter to H.R.H. the Duke Maximilian
—Adventures of the Duke—Illness of the Duke’s negro, Wellington—Vexation of
His Royal Highness—Letter to Mr. K., merchant at Beyrout—Letter to Lord
Brougham—Professional visit to Sulyman Pasha’s child—League between the
maids and receivers of stolen goods—Black doses for the Prince’s suite—Letter
from Lady Hester to the Duke of Bavaria on his intended visit—The Duke leaves
Syria.

Tuesday, May 15.—I had been to Sayda to-day, and was within a
mile of Jôon, on my return, when I saw a servant making towards me
in breathless haste. A letter had arrived for me from Beyrout, which
Lady Hester had immediately forwarded to me on the road by this
man, charging him to deliver it with all possible speed, so that it
should reach me before the close of daylight. The reason of all this
extraordinary haste was that I might be enabled to communicate at
once with her, if necessary, concerning its contents; as the vigil of
Wednesday commenced at sunset on Tuesday, from which hour till
the following sunset she could neither see me, nor admit of any
message from me. The reader will remember that on every
Wednesday, from sunset to sunset, her ladyship was invisible.
There was indeed occasion, as it happened, for all this haste. The
letter was from Mr. K., an English merchant at Beyrout, informing me
of the alarming illness of his wife, and begging, in the most pressing
terms, that I would use all expedition to come (as he was pleased to
express himself) and save her.
As the sun was now setting, I desired the servant to tell Lady
Hester that there would not be time in the interval for me to see her,
and that I should be obliged to set off that night to Beyrout. I made
my arrangements accordingly, and started at three o’clock in the
morning, about two hours before daylight, accompanied by a
servant. The horses were all at grass some miles from the house, so
that I was compelled to perform the journey on an ass. It took me
eleven hours; and, on my arrival, I found that Mrs. K. had died in the
morning.
There was a very decent inn at Beyrout, kept by one Guiseppe
Paraschivà, a Greek, who gave the most copious repasts that a
hungry traveller can desire to find. Having ordered my dinner, I went
to the French consul’s house, thinking there to meet with the
physician who attended Mrs. K. In the quadrangle of his residence I
saw a number of persons assembled, and an auction going on. I had
not made three steps towards the circle, when a gentleman who
knew me advanced in a hurried manner towards me. “Touch
nobody,” said he; “the plague is in the town: it has taken us by
surprise; three persons have died to-day in the blacksmiths’
street.”[24] I thanked my friend, and, having seen Monsieur Guys,
who confirmed the bad news of the plague and of Mrs. K.’s death, I
hastened away, and went to the English consul’s, Mr. Moore. He was
already in quarantine, and received me at the doorway of his house,
where it happened Lord Prudhoe was then sitting, in the same
predicament.
The funeral of Mrs. K. took place in the evening. Her case had
been a melancholy one: her sufferings must have been excruciating;
and the affection of the husband, anxious to save the life of a wife he
loved to distraction, induced him to allow of certain unskilful efforts
for her relief, no doubt well intended, but assuredly baneful to the
patient. The lady was a German, a model of domestic purity and
affection, and idolized by her husband.
I saw Mr. K. the following day, and condoled with him on his loss.
He was like a distracted man, and lay prostrate on his sofa, vowing
vengeance against the French doctor, whom he denounced as his
wife’s murderer.
Saturday, May 19.—As the Franks had now begun to shut up their
houses, and the report of fresh cases of plague had created some
consternation, I returned to Jôon. The preceding evening, whilst
paying a visit to Monsieur and Madame Guys, he put into my hands
a file of newspapers, a packet of letters, and a parcel, just arrived by
a French merchant-vessel from Marseilles. The parcel contained Mr.
George Robinson’s “Three Years’ Residence in the East,” which the
author himself had kindly forwarded to me from Paris. I had the
pleasure of opening it at the thirty-sixth page of his volume on Syria,
and of reading to my friends, Monsieur and Madame Guys, the well-
deserved tribute paid to their hospitality and distinguished merits,
which excited in them a lively emotion. “We do our best,” said
Monsieur Guys, “to make Beyrout agreeable to such travellers as we
are fortunate enough to become acquainted with; but it is not always
that we meet with such grateful acknowledgments.” Mr. Robinson, in
his Arab dress, was the exact similitude of Burckhardt, alias Shaykh
Ibrahim. He also spoke Arabic with a degree of fluency that made it
probable, had he spent as many years in the East as Mr. Burckhardt,
he would have been able, like him, almost to have passed for a
native.
Being long familiar with the road from Beyrout to Sayda, it would
be difficult for me to conjure up such a picture of its rocky and
solitary horrors as that which has been drawn by M. Lamartine.
Features so romantic could have been portrayed only under the
sudden inspiration of novelty and surprise. First impressions are
strongly contrasted with the hackneyed indifference of one who has
traversed the same ground over and over again, and is become
familiar with its peculiarities. Instead, therefore, of describing what
would strike the eye of the new-comer, let us substitute a sketch or
two of the actual manners of the people in the khans or on the high
road, as they are presented to the habitual observer.
I left Beyrout on my return as soon as the city gates were open,
which was before sunrise. The mulberry grounds and olive groves
through which the road lies extend in this direction for four or five
miles. Then the sandy soil ceases, the spurs of Mount Lebanon
come down to within a few hundred yards of the seashore, and
sometimes meet the waves. I was overtaken hereabout by three
horsemen, all Christians—for Christians and Turks are seldom seen
riding in company—and one of this goodly trio was, thus early in the
morning, singing with all the force of his lungs. Osman Chaôosh,
who was with me, said, “That man, who is so merry, is reputed to
have the best voice in all Sayda; he goes very often into the
Mountain to the different Emirs’ palaces, where he remains a
fortnight together, and diverts them by his songs. They say the
princes are so fond of him that he sometimes brings away bags full
of money. Then he is invited to weddings, and to merchants’ and
agas’ parties, and wherever gaiety or amusement of any kind is
going forward.” By this time they had come up with us, and were
questioning Osman, in a low voice, where I had been, &c. They then
kissed their hands, touched their turbans, and, passing a-head,
being well mounted on good mares, they soon outstripped us, and
left us behind. Osman resumed the conversation—“Did you observe
that rider, with a full face, on the chestnut mare, with a saddle
covered with brocade? well, that is one of the best penmen we have
in all the pashalik. He was a government secretary at Acre, and vast
sums of money passed through his hands; but some stuck to his
fingers, and, being found out, he was bastinadoed and sent by the
Pasha to the Lemàn,” (place for convicts) “where he remained some
months. He was not badly off, however, as he did nothing except
smoking his pipe all day. He has now been out a good bit, but is
employed again.”—“And is he well received in society after such an
exposure?” I asked.—“Why not?” replied Osman; “he was not quite
clever enough, and he suffered for it—that’s all.”
We soon after came to a khan, called El Khaldy, where we found
the three horsemen dismounted, and seated under the shed,
drinking arrack and smoking. I made a halt likewise to get something
for breakfast. The khankeeper spread a clean mat on the floor of the
estrade, and on this I sat down. A brown earthenware dish of leben,
or curdled milk, was served up with a wooden spoon, and about half
a dozen bread-cakes, in size and substance like pancakes, were
placed before me. When I had eaten this, a pipe and a finjàn of
coffee, with a lump of sugar out of a little provision which Osman had
in his saddle-bags (a precaution necessary in these public-houses,
where no such luxury is found), finished my temperate meal. The ex-
convict and the singer were treated as great gentry, which I could
easily observe by the attention the master paid them. Whilst I was
smoking my pipe, another horseman arrived with a groom on foot.
The groom tied up the horse in front of the khan, took off the saddle-
bags, and, from a napkin, which he spread on the mat where his
master had been littered down like myself, he pulled out bread,
cheese, and a paper of halâwy or nougat, as the French call it. Then,
having unstrapped the nosebag of corn, he tied it over the horse’s
head, and came and seated himself opposite his master, and both
began to eat with sharp appetites, master and servant without any
distinction. The landlord brought a small bottle with a spout to it, full
of arrack, and a tumbler, which were set down without a word being
spoken, showing he was well acquainted with his guests’ taste. The
gentleman—as persons always do in the East—invited me to join
him; and, on my thanking him, he did the same to a poor peasant
who was seated near us. Good breeding among them requires that,
when they eat, they should ask those present to do the same; but
nobody ever thinks of accepting the invitation, unless pressed upon
him in a manner which is understood to preclude a refusal. I however
accepted a bit of halâwy, not to appear uncivil, upon which the
traveller asked me if we had any such sweetmeat in my country. I
declared we had none more to my taste, although our confectioners’
shops possessed a great variety. He remarked that it was an
excellent thing on the road wherewith to stay the appetite, and
assured me that Haroun el Raschid himself, if I had ever heard of
that caliph, did not disdain it. “Oh!” replied I, “we have many stories
of the Caliph Haroun.”—“Have you?” cried he: “then, if you will give
me leave, I will add one more to your store.[25]
“Hakem was one of the familiar friends of the Commander of the
Faithful, Haroun el Raschid. The caliph said to him one day, ‘Hakem,
I mean to hunt to-morrow, thou must go with me.’—‘Most willingly,’
answered Hakem. He went home and said to his wife, ‘The caliph
has ordered me to go a hunting with him to-morrow, but really I
cannot; I am accustomed to dine early, and the caliph never takes
his dinner before noon: I shall die of hunger. Faith, I will not
go.’—‘God forbid!’ said the wife: ‘you do not mean to say you will
disobey the caliph’s order?’—‘But what am I to do?’ said Hakem;
‘must I die of hunger?’—‘No,’ quoth the wife; ‘you have nothing to do
but to buy a paper of halâwy, which you can put in the folds of your
turban, and so eat a bit every now and then whilst you are waiting for
the caliph’s dinner time, and then you will dine with him.’—‘Upon my
word,’ said Hakem, ‘that’s an excellent idea.’ The next day Hakem
bought a paper of halâwy, stuck it into his turban, and went to join
the caliph. As they were riding along, Haroun turned round, and
looking at Hakem, spied out in the folds of his turban, rolled round
his head, the paper in which the halâwy was wrapped. He called to
his Vizir Giaffer. ‘What is your pleasure, Commander of the Faithful?’
said the Vizir.—‘Do you see,’ said the caliph, ‘the paper of halâwy
that Hakem has stuck in his turban? By the Prophet, I’ll have some
fun with him: he shall not eat a bit of it.’ They went on for a while
talking, until the caliph, pretending that he saw some game, spurred
on his mule as if to pursue it. Hakem raised his hand up to his
turban, took a bit of halâwy out of it, and put it into his mouth. The
same moment, the caliph, turning back to him, cried out, ‘Hakem!’
Hakem spit out the halâwy, and replied:—‘Please your
Highness!’—‘The mule,’ said Haroun, ‘goes very badly; I can’t think
what is the matter with her.’—‘I dare say the groom has fed her too
much,’ replied Hakem submissively; ‘her guts are grumbling.’ They
went on again, and the caliph again took the lead. Hakem thought
the opportunity favourable, took out another bit of halâwy, and
whipped it slily into his mouth, when Haroun suddenly turned round,
crying ‘Hakem! Hakem!’—‘What is your Highness’s will?’ said
Hakem, again dropping the halâwy. ‘I tell you,’ rejoined the caliph,
‘that this mule is a vile beast: I wonder what the devil it is that
troubles her!’—‘Commander of the Faithful,’ said Hakem, ‘to-morrow
the farrier shall look at her, and see what ails her. I dare say it is
nothing.’ A few moments elapsed, and Hakem said to himself, ‘Am I
a farrier, that that fool should bore me with his questions every
moment? mule! mule! I wish to God the mule’s four feet were in the
master’s belly!’
“Shortly after, the caliph pushed forward again. Hakem cautiously
carried his hand to the halâwy, and made another trial; but, before he
had time to put it into his mouth, the caliph rode up to him, crying
out, ‘Hakem! Hakem! Hakem!’—‘Oh Lord,’ said Hakem, ‘what a
wretched day for me! nothing but Hakem, Hakem! What folly is
this!’—‘I think the farrier must have pricked the mule’s foot,’ said
Haroun: ‘don’t you see that she is lame?’—‘My lord,’ said Hakem,
‘to-morrow we will take her shoe off; the farrier shall give her another
shoe, and, please God, we shall cure her.’
“Just then a caravan came along the road on its way from Persia.
One of the merchants approached the caliph, prostrated himself
before him, and presented him with several objects of value, as also
with a young slave of incomparable beauty and of a lovely figure,
remarkable for the charms of her person, with taper waist and
swelling hips, eyes like an antelope’s, and a mouth like Solomon’s
seal. She had cost the merchant a hundred thousand denàrs. When
Haroun saw her, he was charmed at her aspect, and became at
once passionately enamoured of her. He immediately gave orders to
turn back to Bagdad, and said to Hakem, ‘Take that young creature
with you, and make haste with her to the city. Get down at the palace
—go up to the Pavilion—put it in order—uncover the furniture, set
out the table—fill the bottles—and look that nothing is wanting.’
Hakem hastened on, and executed his commission. The caliph soon
after arrived, surrounded by his cortège of vizirs, emirs, and
courtiers. He entered the Pavilion, and dismissed his suite. Going
into the saloon, where the young slave awaited him, he said to
Hakem, ‘Remain outside the door of the saloon; stir not a single step
from it; and see that the Princess Zobëide does not surprise us.’—‘I
understand,’ said Hakem. ‘A thousand times obedience to the orders
of God and to the Commander of the Faithful.’
“The caliph sat down to table with the young slave: they ate, and
then went into another room, where wines and dessert were
prepared. Haroun had just taken a seat, had filled his glass, and had
got it to his mouth, when there was a knock at the door. ‘As sure as
fate,’ said the caliph, ‘here is the Princess Zobëide.’ He rose in a
hurry, put away the wine and everything that was on the table, hid
the young lady in a closet, and opened the door of the pavilion,
where he finds Hakem. ‘Is the Princess Zobëide coming?’ said he to
him. ‘No, my lord,’ said Hakem: ‘but I fancied you might be uneasy
about your mule. I have questioned the groom, and, true enough, he
had overfed her: the beast’s stomach was crammed. To-morrow we
will have her bled, and all will be right again.’—‘Don’t trouble thyself
about the mule,’ said the caliph; ‘I want none of thy impertinent
stories now. Remain at thy post, and, if thou hearest the Princess
Zobëide coming, let me know.’—‘Your highness shall be obeyed,’
replied Hakem.
“Haroun re-entered the apartment, fetched the beautiful slave out
of the closet, and placed everything on the table as before. He had
hardly done, when another knock was heard. ‘A curse on it! there is
Zobëide,’ cries the caliph. He hides the slave in the closet, shuffles
off the wine and dessert, and runs to the door. There he sees
Hakem. ‘Well,’ says he, ‘what did you knock for?’—‘Indeed,
Commander of the Faithful,’ replied Hakem, ‘I can’t help thinking
about that mule. I have again interrogated the farrier, and he
pretends there is nothing the matter with her, but that she has stood
too long without work in the stable, and that’s the reason why she
was a little lazy when you rode her to-day: otherwise she is very
well?—‘To the devil with ye both—thee and the mule!’ said Haroun;
‘didn’t I tell thee I would have none of thy impertinence? Stand where
I told thee to remain, and take care that Zobëide does not catch us;
for, if she did, this day would be a bad one for thee.’—‘May my head
answer for my vigilance,’ said Hakem.
“Again the caliph goes in, and a third time lets out the young
slave, replenishes the table, fills a goblet with wine, and carries it to
his lips. Suddenly he hears a clatter on the terrace: ‘This time,’ said
he, ‘there is Zobëide, sure enough.’ He pushes the slave into her
hiding-place, removes the fruit and the wine, and burns some pastils
to drive away the smell. He hastens up to the terrace of the pavilion,
finds nobody but Hakem there, and says to him ‘Was that Zobëide?
—where is she?—is she coming?’—‘No, no, Commander of the
Faithful,’ said Hakem; ‘the princess is not here; but I saw the mule
making a clatter with her feet, just as I did myself, and I am really
quite uncomfortable about her; I was afraid she had the colic, and I
feel quite alarmed.’—‘I wish to God thou may’st have the colic all thy
life, cursed fool that thou art! Out with thee, and let me never see thy
face again! If thou ever presumest to come into my presence again, I
will have thee hanged.’ Hakem went home and told his wife that the
caliph had dismissed him, and had forbidden him ever to show his
face at court again. He remained some time in his house, until he
thought that the caliph’s anger had subsided. He then said to his
wife, ‘Go to the palace, kiss Zobëide’s hand; tell her that the caliph is
angry with me, and beg her to intercede with him for me.’ The wife
fulfilled his commission. The Princess Zobëide interceded for
Hakem, and the caliph pardoned him.”
My narrator, after receiving my thanks for his entertaining story,
took his leave, mounted his horse, and rode off. The conversation
now became general, and turned on the river Damôor, which
empties itself into the sea midway between Beyrout and Sayda, and
often swells, from the rains and the melting of the snows in the
mountain, so as to become exceedingly dangerous to ford, as there
is no bridge over it. “What a fool the Jew was,” cried one, “to lose his
life for a few piasters! The guides offered to take him across for a
khyréah—four of them, two at the head and two at the flanks of his
mule; but he must needs haggle, and would give no more than ten
piasters; and, seeing one of the Pasha’s estafettes get across safe,
he fancied he could do the same: but they know the ford as well as
the guides; for they traverse it daily. So the Jew was carried off, and
neither he nor his mule were ever seen afterwards.”—“It was just the
same,” said a second speaker, “with the peasant from Medjdeloony
who was going to buy wheat at Beyrout: for you know, gentlemen, a
Greek vessel had arrived from Tarsûs with very good corn, at four
and a half piasters the roop. Well, he too was rash enough to
suppose he could get across alone, and they only asked him five
piasters—only a fourth of what they wanted of the Jew. But the
waters were up to his armpits; and, his foot slipping just in the
deepest part, he fell, and, after a few struggles, was carried out to
sea. All the peasants of the village, which, you know, is close by
where the English queen lives, came down to watch if the body was
cast ashore: for they say he had above a thousand piasters in his
girdle from different poor families who had commissioned him to buy
for them: and the poor creatures were naturally anxious to recover
it.”
 Having smoked my pipe, I mounted my ass, crossed the Damôor
in safety, and halted again at Nebby Yuness, a santon’s, where there
are two comfortable rooms for travellers, attached to the shrine. Here
I smoked another pipe, heard a long string of compliments and
grateful expressions from the imàm (who lived there to show the
shrine to pilgrims), in return for the donations which Lady Hester sent
occasionally to the shrine, and which he pocketed. I remounted,
struck off at Rumelly from the high road into the mountain by a cross
country path, and at about five o’clock reached Jôon.
Khaldy, of which mention was made above, is a spot which has
been too much neglected by travellers; and it would be well if some
one, who had leisure and ability for such researches, would pass a
day or two there, to make an accurate examination, and to take
drawings of the numberless sarcophagi which lie about on the
ground, or are hewn in the solid rock. Many of them have bas-reliefs
on them; and, as such a mass of tombs must necessarily imply the
former vicinity of some ancient city, diligent research might lead to
the discovery of historical antiquities in the neighbourhood.
There is a day in the year, in the month of June or July, I now
forget which, when hundreds of Christians resort to this spot from
Beyrout, Sayda, and the villages of Mount Lebanon, for the
celebration of a saint’s festival; and a part of the holiday consists in
washing themselves in the sea. The craniologist might have a fine
field for study in beholding a hundred bare heads at the same time
around him. I happened once to ride through Khaldy on that very
saint’s day, and never was I so struck with anything as with the sight
of countless shaved heads, almost all having a conical shape, quite
unlike European heads. But, besides this, a stranger would see
much merry-making, dancing, drinking, and many mountain female
dresses united here, which he would have to seek for through twenty
districts at any other time. Monsieur Las Cases has a painting of this
spot, which may, or might once, be seen at the Gobelins
manufactory at Paris, of which establishment he was director some
years ago, or else in Monsieur Denon’s collection. It is one of those
exaggerated fancy paintings which artists are never pardonable for
making, when they are intended to be shown as faithful copies;
because, like certain historical novels, they lend a false colouring to
facts and realities. There are other untruths besides those which are
spoken or written; and these undoubtedly may be classed amongst
the most reprehensible. I often regretted that my numerous
occupations prevented me from wandering over this interesting field
of inquiry.
Sunday, May 20.—I gave Lady Hester an account of the tragical
end of poor Mrs. K., which induced her to write a letter of consolation
to the afflicted widower, of whom, though she had never seen him,
she was a sincere well-wisher. This is a copy of it:—

To Mr. K., merchant at Beyrout.

Jôon, May 20, 1838.
Sir,
Nearly a year ago I had commissioned Mohadýn—Mr.
Lancaster’s idle and talkative ci-devant young servant—to
felicitate you upon your marriage: but now the task of
administering consolation for the late sad event devolves
upon me. Mrs. K.’s conduct, from the first, had made a strong
impression upon my mind. Young and handsome, as she was,
to have left her country to follow you, argued her to be of no
common mould. Avoiding to be detrimental to your interests,
and giving up the empty homage, which vanity would have
demanded with most women, that you should have left your
affairs to accompany her—above considering what scandal
might set afloat in the world—she followed the dictates of her
own heart, and relied upon your honour: a circumstance,
which, in the annals of your life, ought not to be forgotten.
That you should be in despair at the loss of such a woman
is but too natural: but you should consider, at the same time,
that you have enjoyed perhaps in this one year more
happiness than falls to the share of many, even during the
course of their lives. Thank God for it! and do not, by
despondency, displease the Omnipotent who has thus
 favoured you, or allow that amiable creature in other regions,
from which she is perhaps still watching over you, to witness
your despair. I have heard from one who knows you that you
are of a manly character. Without making any sacrifice of
those feelings which belong to energetic people only, make
use of that energy and good sense to palliate your griefs; and
bow with resignation to the will of the Almighty. I am quite
against persons endeavouring to drive away sorrow by hurry
or dissipation: cool reflection can alone bring some balm to
the soul.
I remain, sir, &c.
Hester Lucy Stanhope.
PS.—In the present state of your mind, I will not allow you
to give me any answer. But I shall keep my eye upon you;
and, if you are unheeding of my advice, I shall put myself into
one of my great passions, which even exceed those which I
understand you sometimes fall into, but which enhance your
character in my estimation. For the cold-heartedness of men
of the present generation is nearly death to me.

After this letter was written, Lady Hester talked about Lord
Prudhoe and Colonel Davidson, who was also staying at the inn at
Beyrout, and whose father, Lady Hester said, was a man of some
note in her time. “Did you make acquaintance with them?” she
asked: I replied, “No; for according to English custom, Englishmen,
even in lands so remote from home, maintain their strange reserve,
and carry their looks of distrust with them wherever they go. The
‘Who are you, I wonder?—‘shall I degrade myself in speaking to
you?’ seems to be ever uppermost in their thoughts.” She then
spoke of Mrs. Moore, the lady of the British consul, whom she
eulogized greatly. “That is one of the few women I must like,” said
Lady Hester; “indeed it is my duty to do so, and, when next you go to
Beyrout, you must tell her so: but you don’t know the reason, nor
does she. What do you think of her, doctor?” I answered, “It appears
to me that M. Lamartine, had he known her, would have felt the
inspiration which he caught so readily in the poetic land of the East:
—he has celebrated beauty less remarkable than hers.”
“And so I dare say you have supplied the omission,” observed
Lady Hester. “I have attempted to do so in a very bungling way,”
replied I. “Well,” said she, “never mind; let me hear what you have
written.” So I drew out a few verses, which I had pencilled at the inn
at Beyrout immediately after I had the honour of seeing that lady,
and read them.
“They are not so bad,” observed Lady Hester; “but that was not
what you went to Beyrout for.”
The subject carried her back to past times, and she said—“I have
made it a rule all my life, from the moment I came into the great
world, never to suffer verses to be written about me by anybody. If I
had liked the thing, I might have had thousands of poets to celebrate
my praises in all manner of ways; but there is nothing I think so
ridiculous. Look at the Duchess of Devonshire, with every day ‘A
copy of verses on her taking a walk’—‘An impromptu on her having a
headache’—and all such nonsense: I detest it.”
This brought to my mind a circumstance which occurred in the
early part of our travels. I had written a small poem, in which a few
lines, eulogistic of herself, were introduced; and one day I read it to
her. After I had finished, she said, “You know, doctor, this will only do
to show people in private; and, if ever you dare to put my name to
any published poetry, I’ll take measures to make you heartily repent
of it.”
Lady Hester, however, was not insensible to that species of praise
which rests on the application of a passage of some classic author,
to illustrate one character by its resemblance to that of another
already stamped with celebrity. Thus she was greatly pleased when
Mr. Pitt, in reading Gray’s fragment of the tragedy of Agrippina aloud,
and in coming to some lines in which he recognized a great similarity
to her language, cried out—“Why, Hester, that’s you; here you are—
just like you!” then, reading on a little farther—“Here you are again
scolding him!” meaning, as Lady Hester told me at the time, that it
was just like her, scolding Lord Mahon.
Tuesday, May 22.—I had struck a Turk, one of the servants, with
a stick over his shoulders; but, in so doing, I forgot the penalty
attached to striking a Mussulman. Formerly such an act, done by a
Christian hand, was punished with death, or the alternative of
becoming a renegado of one’s faith. Even now the old Mussulman
servants muttered threats against me, as I was told, and I really think
would have done me harm, if they could. For all Lady Hester’s power
hardly went farther than to have her people punished by the
instrumentality of another Turk; but the moment I thought proper to
chastise a fellow’s insolence with my own hand, she did not hesitate
to tell me that I must be wary how I repeated it again; assuring me
that a blow from a Christian never could be pardoned by them.
Thursday, May 24.—In reading the newspapers, Lord Byron’s
name occurred. “I think,” said Lady Hester, “he was a strange
character: his generosity was for a motive, his avarice for a motive:
one time he was mopish, and nobody was to speak to him; another,
he was for being jocular with everybody. Then he was a sort of Don
Quixote fighting with the police for a woman of the town; and then he
wanted to make himself something great. But when he allowed
himself to be bullied by the Albanians, it was all over with him; you
must not show any fear with them. At Athens, I saw nothing in him
but a well-bred man, like many others: for, as for poetry, it is easy
enough to write verses; and as for the thoughts, who knows where
he got them? Many a one picks up some old book that nobody
knows anything about, and gets his ideas out of it. He had a great
deal of vice in his looks—his eyes set close together, and a
contracted brow, so”—(imitating it). “Oh, Lord! I am sure he was not
a liberal man, whatever else he might be. The only good thing about
his looks was this part,” (drawing her hand under the cheek down the
front of her neck), “and the curl on his forehead.”
Saturday, May 26.—About eleven at night, Lady Hester went into
the bath, previous to which I passed two or three hours with her. The
conversation ran on the arrival of some Europeans at Sayda, who,
by the report of a servant returning from the town, had lost two of
their number by the plague, and, in consequence, had been put into
quarantine at Sheemaôony, the Turkish mausoleum spoken of in a
former page, about a quarter of a mile from the city gate. Lady
Hester had heard of their distressed situation about four o’clock in
the afternoon, it being said they were pilgrims who had applied for
permission to be lodged at Dayr el Mkhallas, the monastery at Jôon,
which had been acceded to by the monks but forbidden by the health
officers, owing to a foul bill of health they brought with them.
Subsequently it was given out that they were poor Germans; and
she, with her accustomed humanity, thinking they might be in want of
some little comforts, had made up a couple of baskets of violet and
rose syrups, capillaire, lemons, &c., and despatched a man with a
note, in these words:—“The humble offering of Lady Hester
Stanhope to the sick Germans, with her request that they will make
known their wants to her, whether for medicines, or for whatever they
may need.”
The servant had hardly set off, when an express arrived with a
letter to her ladyship from one of the strangers, to the effect that, one
of the party being ill, the writer requested she would be kind enough
to send down her doctor. It was signed Charles Baron de Busech,
Knight of Malta. On asking me whether I was afraid of the plague, I
answered, “Yes; and as it appeared they were men of rank, and
could not fail of obtaining medical advice from Sayda, where there
were four or five army surgeons, and two or three physicians, I
thought it best not to go until more clear information had been
obtained respecting them.” Lady Hester approved of this, and wrote
the following reply:—

To the Baron Charles de Busech, Knight of Malta, in

quarantine on the seashore, Sayda.
Jôon, May 26, 1838.
Sir Baron,
Although I myself have no fear of the plague, or of persons
infected with it, almost all the Franks have. The physician who
is with me happens to be of the number; therefore, it does not
 depend on me to cure people of what I consider prejudices.
Our days are numbered, and everything is in the hands of
God.
Your letter is without a date, and comes from I know not
where. At the moment that I received it I had sent a servant
with a few cooling syrups to some sick Germans, guarded by
a ring of soldiers outside of the town, of whose names and
class in life I am ignorant, although the peasants give out that
there are some of very high quality among them: for I feared
that, in a strange country, and thus surrounded by fever or
perhaps plague, they would not be able to procure the drinks
necessary in such maladies. I hope not to have offended any
one, although I have made a blundering business, not
knowing who I addressed myself to. But, having understood
that they had yesterday demanded an asylum at Dayr
Mkhallas, which had been refused them, I was uneasy on
their account.
I have ordered my purveyor at Sayda, Captain Hassan
Logmagi, to come up to-morrow, that I may get a right
understanding in this confused affair, and may see if it is in
my power, by any trifling service, to be useful to them. Allow
me to remark that, if, in any case, symptoms of plague, or
even of the ardent fevers of the country, manifest themselves,
the Frank doctors understand but little about it. The barbers of
the country are those who have the most knowledge on the
subject.
This letter goes by the servant, who has in charge the
basket of syrups, and whom I had called back when about ten
minutes on his road.
H. L. Stanhope.

The servant was despatched, and many conjectures were formed

as to who the Baron de Busech could be. The reader will say that it
mattered little who he was, and that humanity dictated, when a sick
person demanded assistance, to go without delay and afford it. This,
in common cases, no doubt was what I or any other medical
practitioner should feel it his duty to do; but, where Lady Hester was
concerned, the ordinary rules of life would not hold good. I at once
considered what a warfare would ensue between her ladyship and
myself on the treatment to be followed (she always assuming the
right of dictation); and I thought it best to say I was afraid of the
plague: for, although I felt little difficulty in giving way to Lady
Hester’s opinion on other matters in discussion between us of every
possible kind, it was different where the treatment of the sick was
concerned; for there the case became serious, and life and death
were in the balance.
Lady Hester made this, my refusal, a pretext for a long lecture,
which she delivered in a mild tone, but mixed with the self-boasting
common to her. Her reasoning was indisputably sound, but she did
not know the motive that guided me.
Sunday, May 27.—Her ladyship’s letter to the baron was taken to
Logmagi at Sayda, who went immediately and delivered it to that
gentleman, and, according to the orders sent to him, offered his
services and those of her ladyship to all the party. He then came up
to the Dar, and informed her that the strangers were several in
number, Germans of distinction, and delivered a letter to her from
one of them. It was couched in courtly language, to thank her for her
attention to them. It repeated the request that she would let her
doctor come down, and was signed Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria.
As Beyrout was closed, owing to the plague, and the Sayda
bakers never make any bread but flat cakes, flaky and unpalateable,
Lady Hester ordered, as a first step for their comfort, a baking of
forty or fifty loaves, about the size of twopenny loaves: and this
supply was continued to the duke and his suite during the whole time
they remained. She sent tea and a teapot, rum, brandy, and such
little things as she knew could not be procured in the town. These
articles were accompanied by a letter, as follows:—